The days passed and Timothy and his troops grew to know what was a new world. Timothy was continually impressed. It had progressed beyond anything that he had expected. The only thing that bothered him was most of the progress was made after the Emperor’s grip on the planet had been loosened. This was not the way it way it should be. It was thought that the Emperor was the savior of humanity.
It was something of a shock that women were now treated on a par with men. In the latest wheelchair wars, they tried to reduce the bloodletting as much as possible. The poor’s health needs were met almost as much as those of the rich.
The Emperor’s ship had never left orbit. He sensed the nervousness of the people. They feared his return only slightly less than that of the impending Tyranid invasion. On a trip to the surface, he saw people pointing to its proximate location in the now blue sky.
He wondered if one of the Gods of Chaos was at work in the World but they were far from the Warp and the telepaths among his troops sensed nothing. A terrible truth dawned on him. They were doing better due to the Emperor’s absence.
He decided to rid his mind of such thoughts by focusing on the planet’s defense. After learning more, he was now quietly feeling more confident.
The planet had multiple lines of defense. The first was its multiple-battery orbit guns dotted around the planet. They were the best Timothy had ever seen. Almost too good. Who were they to be originally used against?
Then there was the planet’s federal army, which consisted of a land force, a navy, and a space force. The best troops in the land forces were modeled on the Space Marines and had undergone body augmentation and were fitted with the best lasers and blasters that money could buy.
The navy consisted of hundreds of battleships, aircraft carriers, and corvettes. The space force had nearly a thousand advanced fighters but no large ships.
There was also a territorial army, a large reserve force containing millions of men, albeit much more lightly armed with mostly machine guns and rocket launchers.
Finally, there were the militia. These had the poorest equipment and consisted of the young and old who were able to fight.
Now, it was a matter of finalizing exactly how the planet’s defenses would be used with the planet’s President.
Mark's Writing Corner 